Saturday
May012010
Mrs. O in USA Weekend
Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 11:19 AM 
Photo by Kwaku Alston, Stockland Martel for USA Weekend
The first lady is on the cover of the current issue of USA Weekend, accompanied by an interview focused on her parenting approach. To read more, click here.
Several commenters have noted the similiarity between this magenta pink dress and the teal Jason Wu dress, seen here, which Mrs. O wore in London last Spring. The signature similarity is the tight pleating (or "fluting" as Cathy Horyn described it last year) at the waist. I will investigate and report back. Have a wonderful weekend!
Update: As we thought, the dress is indeed another gorgeous creation by Jason Wu -- a "custom silk faille cartridge pleated dress."
tagged Jason Wu
Jason Wu
Reader Comments (45)
Lovely color, but the bodice doesn't fit well.
Mrs. O is breathtaking in this dress! Wonderful color! The article is great as well.
She is truly "America's Mom-In Chief".
Love the dress.
The First Lady looks sensational as always. Bright colours really suit her. The dress is cute, flirty and feminine. I love the way Michelle manages to wear versatile clothes - I would dress it down with haviana's for a walk along the beach, dressed in between with a shawl in the evening for dinner or dressed up with pearls for church on Sunday. Divine !!
BTW, is it me or does Michelle have the most beautiful hands ?
i heart her. she is a terrific person. i will walk on hot coals to be able to wear any color like her. i love the embellishment on the skirt as it was presented on the runway.
and i love the bodice.
Michelle, ma belle, sont des mots qui vonts très bien ensemble, très bien ensemble. I love you, I love you, I love you...
Isn't she lovely. Isn't she wonderful...
Beautiful dress and color. The top of this dress also resembles the red one Mrs. Obama wore on the cover of the December Glamour Magazine.
I can't wait to see/hear her asking the questions during the bonus round at the National Science Bowl on Tuesday!
Wonderful artical. The dress is beautiful!
MRS OBAMA DID A GREAT STORY IN USA WEEKED I DONT NEED TO BUY IT I JUST READ IT LOVE HER PURPLE DRESS AT LEASE IS NEW AND SHE DIDNT WEAR IT BEFORE. LOVE HER SHOES TO I BET IT WAS BLACK. LOL
Sure looks the same as the London dress.....but this color is way more stunning on her! She looks glam - love her hair & make up!
STUNNING, ABSOLUTELY STUNNING! Mrs. Obama just commands being surrounded by beautiful orchids like scented notes, in this lovely dress! Again, Jason Wu, an outstanding visionary has selected one of the most wonderful fabric's that contours Mrs. Obama delicately! The silk faille makes the usually rigid pleating look soft and billowy. This man really knows how to work with pleats and darts. BRAVO to them both!
Now this is the playfulness I love to see on our FLOTUS. It is both classic in silhouette and lively in color and flow. Brilliant.
When I saw this photo, the teal dress under the argyle sweater in London immediately came to mind. People focused on the controversial sweater, but I always wanted to see more of the dress. Wish fulfilled, and love it! The vibrant color here suits Michelle better than the more subdued teal.
I agree with Jestina that Mrs. O has beautiful hands. I remember someone commented at the time of the Good Housekeeping Photoshopping distortion that all they recognized was her smile. At the time I thought the most recognizable trait was the graceful way she characteristically holds her hands.
This is a lovely picture of the First lady...captures the quintessential Michelle Obama.
Not loving this dress, too much in the hip area
What do yall think Mrs. O is gonna wear tonight? I'm thinking she's gonna go with color this evening.
Stunning, gorgeous dress! I, too, love the teal dress she wore in London. I loved the way it moved and the beautiful color, which I think is hard to wear without aging yourself. But Jason Wu really pulled it off.
This is a really lovely photo that captures the pure graciousness of Mrs. O. Fabulous!
Love the dress. Love Mrs. O! Simply beautiful. Its no wonder my president is always smiling. LOL!
Mrs.T isn't funny how some of McQueen fall's collection included jason wu 's signature "fluting"
here is one of the looks
http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/slideshow/F2010RTW-AMCQUEEN/
FLOTUS wearing hot red for the WHCD aka "nerd prom."
WOWSERS.......this my favourite color on Mrs.O
Love the dress.....Love the color.........Love, REALLY LOVE Mrs.O.
Mrs.T, I read somewhere else that Mrs.O will not be attending her 25th reunion at Princeton .....
any word or thots on that.
Mrs.O tonigth. talk about stepping out in style!!
http://www.daylife.com/photo/08AOeoGdhW24B?q=Michelle-Obama
As someone previously commented, the bodice DOES look a tad ill-fitted, wonder why.
LOVE the color though.
Gorgeous color, these jewel tones really make her skin glow...having said that, this is not a style that flatters her. A simple sheath, rather than the pleats/fixed waist, is more flattering. She needs to fill out the bodice, also.
On to tonite, the WHCD. I have not yet seen a pic of Desi Rogers, former WH social secretary (she is the guest of the Huffington Post & someone I know saw her shopping in Georgetown today -- so she is here) -- waiting for the Desi-MO smackdown. I have a feeling MO will unveil one of her great *event* dresses.
Best WHCD dress so far -- the statuesque Gail Huff, wife of Sen Scott Brown, in a sky blue paneled dress with jeweled straps and eye-catching -WHOA- cleavage, that puts to shame all the H'wood B-listers & hasbeens on the redcarpet. The Browns' two tall, beautiful daughters -- Ayla and Ayala (or whatever) -- are there too, in black and gold dresses. Sen Brown looks pretty pleased with himself, as well he might.
Gorgeous, just gorgeous - nothing else describes this look. Mrs O carries off this colour with style and aplomb. Her delightful, natural expression complements the glamour of her dress and she does it all with the same fresh, unpretentious approach to every aspect of her life in the spotlight.
Yay, color! She looks absolutely amazing! Simply incredible looking! Mrs. O knows how to do classy but sexy at the same time.
i can't believe i'm not sleeping. here are some additionnal pics. i hear that Mrs.O is wearing Prabal Gurung.
http://www.daylife.com/search/photos/1/grid?q=Michelle-Obama
OMG, loving MrsO dress at the WHCD, WWD tweet that her beautiful red dress is from Prabal Gurung (Maybe).
Speaking of tweets, MrsO tweeted her 1st ever tweet thru
@EdHenryCNN: from flotus: "here at dinner this is officially my first Tweet. i am looking forward to some good laughs from the potus and jay"
So much fun.
Ah, the color of royalty. I love it.
Her red dress at the correspondent's dinner is stunning. I'm betting her earrings are Bochic (the same line she wore to the State Dinner). Perhaps Alexis Bittar bangle(s)??
Details - we need details!
Mrs Obama is sizzling hot in that dress! Hair and make up are flawless. LOVE the earrings and bracelet!
nonpasserat,
I completely disagree. Mrs. Brown looked beyond trashy. Even Kim Kardashian, who became famous from a porn tape, covered up and appered elegant. Mrs. Brown looked like a desperate old lady. And I'm sorry, but if you don't have pretty skin like Mrs. O, don't show all that skin. All I saw were giant boobs covered in liver spots. Not attractive at all.
Tracy don't bother responding to Nonpasserat. it is her usual game. if Mrs.O was wearing that trashing looking dress with a fake tan as Mrs.Brown she would have rake her over the coals. it is her usual shtick. she is just jealous of Mrs.O. i take pleasure in the fact that today many fashion news outlets will be talking about Flotus' attire of tonight and it is going to make her goes bonkers. who says justice doesn't exist?
and i don't see anything ill-fitting about the bodice.
@ Tracy, you are so right.
Lol, good old Nonpasserat still up to her old tricks. Tea bagger operative extraordinaire.
She comes on the Mrs O site to push some really laughable, embarrassing and unbelievably ridiculous untruths and oxymorons like "classy sarah palin", "statuesque Gail Huff" etc. Lol.
Nice color.
It just doesn't fit - especially the top.
Oh, ok, I'm a regular here but for some reason haven't been hip to nopasserat. So thanks. It's quite pathetic how some people hate our First Family so much, yet they cannot stay off of sites dedicated to them. It's pathetic, isn't it? LOL
Jealousy is a powerful emotion. It can make you a fool.
Love this dress - great color, brilliant pleating/fluting. FLOTUS looks gorgeous and, like Jestina, I too think FLOTUS has the most beautiful hands.
Extraordinary fitting dress. Shade gives her a glow ‘all over’ Love the pleats, the fact that a woman who does'n t have very broad hips would look great in this style, and wouldn’t have to wear a belt to make it more dressy. Cross over fashion (day to evening).
@Accidental Lobbyist, Thank you so much for sharing your experience with the First Lady. We would love to meet her too. So glad you mentioned that you told her about her followers….I have often wondered whether anyone on the blog ever reports back to her about the incredible influence and impact she has on our lives and the changes people have made in their own lives because of her outstanding examples. I’m not surprised you said that she’s thin. In Earlier pictures when she first met her husband she seemed very slim, but in the photos we look at here, she doesn’t seem thin e.g. State Dinner N.Khan gold dress.IMO
Your description of her personality is exactly how I see her. Always warm and down-to-earth making everyone feel special. Here’s one of my favourite quotes about her “shakes 300 hands non-stop, and make ‘every person’ feel like they’re the only one in the room.”
“When she looks at you, you’ve been seen. When she listens, you know you’ve been heard.”
.
Ofcourse I’m so glad Mrs. T started this blog and being a member here, makes me feel like a part of Mrs. O’s extended family. Thanks again so much. Keep us in touch.
Stunning!
I love this dress....the pleating, the color....FABULOUS!
Hmm. I would never have called it fluting. A champagne flute (from which the phrase comes) is smooth so it usually refers to a smooth, seamed cut of dress that starts off slender but becomes fuller due to the insertion of extra fabric, via panels. This particular type of pleat is an interesting one texturally. I don't find it attractive because it's how curtains are pleated so I just look at it and wonder if the curtain hooks are still on the back - but that's a personal stylistic opinion. It's also interesting to me because 17th century dresses have the same pleating but you attach the pleats to the bodice by turning the pleats perpendicular to the bodice. I can't help wondering if Mr Wu was playing with that idea. Still and all, she looks wonderful, and I do like the interesting cut of the top half of the dress. When Mrs O looks this radiant, I can forgive a dress I don't like that much!!!
I love the cut of the bodice and the color.
Once again....isn't she lovely!
God, I love this dress. She looks fabulouis.
Really sweet cover and the article in the magazine was insightful. I like jewel tones and even though we generally see them in Fall/Winter clothes, it's refreshing to see it here in Spring/Summer collection. Jason Wu's clothes really suit our Michelle and this one is no exception.
Wow, she sure has beautiful and graceful hands!
Love the color and really loving the hair.